Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, who is serving a 20-year prison sentence in the Sadhvi sexual assault case, has once again been released from Sunaria jail in Rohtak, Haryana after being granted 30-day conditional release by the relevant state authority, marking his 16th temporary release since his conviction.
The self-proclaimed god He walked out of Sonaria prison at around 6:34 am on Tuesday, with minimal security arrangements visible during his exit.
Confirming the development, his lawyer Jitendra Khurana told ANI: “He has been granted parole today. It has been granted by the competent authority of the state. He has been granted parole for 30 days.”
“He will remain in Dera Sacha Sauda, Sirsa, during his parole period,” he added.
This is not the first time the spiritual man has been released on parole, whose temporary release in the past has sparked political criticism and security concerns.
436 days out of prison for convicted rape “Goodman”
This is the sixteenth time since he was convicted in August 2017 Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh has been released from prison on temporary release. This brings his total days out of prison to approximately 436 days over the past nine years or so, as he serves a 20-year prison sentence. Before his current release, Ram Rahim spent 406 days out of prison.
The following is the distribution according to the official prison records of convict 8647/C:
- First release (October 2020): 1 day
- Version 2 (May 2021): 0.5 days (12 hours to visit his mother)
- Third release (February 2022): 21 days
- Fourth release (June 2022): 30 days
- 5th edition (October 2022): 40 days
- 6th edition (January 2023): 40 days
- 7th edition (July 2023): 30 days
- Issue 8 (November 2023): 21 days
- 9th edition (January 2024): 50 days
- 10th edition (August 2024): 21 days
- 11th edition (October 2024): 20 days
- 12th release (January 2025): 30 days
- 13th edition (April 2025): 21 days
- 14th edition (August 2025): 40 days
- 15th edition (January 2026): 40 days
- 16th release (May 2026): 30 days (current release)
Ram Rahim was first put in Sonaria prison in August 2017 after his conviction, and has since been released on parole or leave several times, including a 40-day parole earlier this year in January, after which he returned to prison on February 15.
Why does the Dera chief come out of prison so often?
Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh’s repeated releases are being legally facilitated under the Haryana Good Conduct of Prisoners (Temporary Release) Act, 2022. The rule allows eligible convicts to apply for up to 70 days of parole and 21 days of leave per calendar year.
According to India Today, he remains eligible for standard temporary release benefits for cause The Haryana government classifies his multiple convictions as conspiracies rather than serial murders.
Acquittal in other cases
Earlier on March 7, the Punjab and Haryana High Court acquitted Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in the murder case of journalist Ramchandra Chhatrapati.
Gurmeet Ram Rahim was accused of orchestrating the murder of Ramchandra Chhatrapati, a Sirsa-based journalist, for openly criticizing the Dera leader in his newspaper.
In 2019, a special CBI court convicted him and sentenced him to life imprisonment in the case. Besides Ram Rahim, three other convicts – Kuldeep Singh, Nirmal Singh and Krishan Lal – were also convicted in the murder case and sentenced to life imprisonment. The court also imposed a fine of $50,000 each.
A division bench of Chief Justice Shail Nagu and Justice Vikram Agarwal of the Punjab and Haryana High Court delivered the judgement, acquitting Ram Rahim.
Earlier, in 2024, the Punjab and Haryana High Court had acquitted Dera chief Sacha Sauda and four others in the 2002 murder case of a former Dera official. The special CBI court in Panchkula had sentenced all the accused, including Gurmeet Ram Rahim and four others, to life imprisonment in the murder case of Dera administrator Ranjit Singh.
Ranjit Singh, a resident of Khanpur Kulian village in Kurukshetra, Haryana, was allegedly killed on July 10, 2002, when he was working in his fields.
